No Phillips Would Mean Trouble for Giants

With Kenny Phillips dealing with a sore knee cartilage, the Giants' secondary could once again be in trouble against an explosive corps of receivers in Dallas.

Kenny Phillips spent the media part of practice on the stationary bike again, trying to come back from a sprained knee incurred Sunday against Green Bay.

Though there was apparently no damage to the cartilage that underwent microfracture surgery last year, he's still iffy for Sunday. And if he can't go, the Giants will have to compensate by bringing in rookie Tyler Sash in the three-safety alignment, along with Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant.

Phillips hadn't been ruled out at the time the Giants practiced. But his absence would cause some upheaval, as it did Sunday. Rolle, used to playing closer to the line as a hybrid linebacker, had to move back into a more traditional safety spot he hadn't repped most of the season, and that created issues in coverage.

"It definitely disrupts your continuity," Fewell said. "So the mistakes that you saw there, it disrupts your flow and your continuity. We've covered this and we've covered this, but we have to go back and do that.

"You don't expand as much as you'd like to and you try to make sure you're fundamentally sound in what you do."

Having Sash back there could cause its own problems. He hasn't played much in the defense, as he's concentrated mostly on his special teams work. His 13 special teams tackles tie him for the team lead with Jacquian Williams.

The ideal situation would be to have Phillips back. But if he can't make it, it will be the next man up against the Tony Romo-Jason Witten connection.